I’m not sure about your neighbourhood, but most of the churches in my neighbourhood have gone the way of the condo.  As faithful flocks wean across liberal social democracies, tension erupts at friction points pitting consumer against faithful.

I have just seen a case that comes about as close as you get of a real life example of Jihad versus McWorld. Of course, what I am talking about is the fight between cinema and church goers in Crystal Palace (a leafy village in the South of London). Last week, roughly 800 people turned up for a woefully unprepared council meeting to discuss whether a now closed bingo hall was going to be re-zoned for a church or whether it will fulfil its former role as a cinema. The 800 were supporters of the cinema and were outraged at the idea of a new church in the neighbourhood.

It’s a minor, but poignant example of how the social influence is shifting from the traditional bases of the church and the state toward modern culture symbols and brands. Trust (and indeed participation) in the first two institutions is waning and trust of companies is on the increase in liberal social democracies. While companies are still trusted less than the state or church on average, I would venture to say that some particular brands are trusted more than some politicians or some church leaders.

It’s not useful to view this cinema example as a competition, but the situation demonstrates the degree of the shift happening in society. This dynamic underlines how important it is to understand how to gain more trust, how to become more credible and to act with authenticity in the market. As outlined in our Civil Branding Paper, brands need to adopt a more civil trajectory by:

[1] Understanding the company culture and potential for creating social change

[2] Plotting a course between the cause and the market reality to ensure the right level of risk and reward is established

[3] Building up support inside the organisation for the new stance before launching it into the market

[4] Sustaining change through a thousand small steps that support the larger effort